Emily Zachary Froemming

Published 10:00 pm Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Emily Zachary (Butler) Froemming of Tryon, N.C., passed away peacefully at Tryon Estates in Columbus, N.C. on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014.

Emily was born on a farm outside Welford, S.C., on Aug. 14, 1921. Attending several local schools in Greenville and Spartanburg, she graduated from Greenville High School. Emily subsequently attended and graduated from Emily Black Hospital Nursing School and did her graduate training at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

At the outbreak of WWII, Emily joined the Army, serving most of the war as an Army nurse in Scotland and England. At the end of the war Emily was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone where she met her South Dakotan husband-to-be, the late Dr. William E. Froemming, an Army surgeon. They were married at St. Andrew‘s Episcopal Church in Greenville, S.C., on Nov. 20, 1948.

As an Army family, Emily and Bill and their two children, Marti and Bill Jr., moved dozens of times around the country. Emily always returned to Tryon, N.C., where her parents, the late Maude and Logan Butler, had a vineyard, the Martha Vineyard. As an Army nurse, and later as a private duty nurse, Emily made many lifelong friends across the nation and overseas with her Southern charm, and her outgoing, caring, and friendly nature. She touched many lives during her 93 years and no one who she ever met will forget her.

Emily is survived by her daughter Martha “Marti” Foley and her husband Ray, of Wilmington, Del.; her son William “Bill” Froemming and his wife Whitney and their two daughters, Austin and Kendall, of Marietta, Ga.; nephew Edward “Ed” Butler and his wife Margaret and their two children, Logan and Amy of Greenville, S.C.; and niece Susan Butler of Greenville, S.C.

Graveside services will be held at noon on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 in Polk Memorial Gardens, Columbus, N.C. with Father Mickey Mugan officiating.

Memorials may be made to The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross, 150 Melrose Ave. Tryon, N.C. 28782 or to Foothills Humane Society, 989 Little Mountain Rd. Columbus, N.C. 28722.

An on-line guest register may be signed at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com